El Crespo Carries Top Weight in Bryan Station

G. Watts Humphrey’s El Crespo, the lone graded stakes winner in a field of eight 3-year-olds, leads the way for the $125,000 Bryan Station (gr. IIIT) Oct. 18 at Keeneland.

By virtue of his victory in the Palm Beach Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Gulfstream Park in March, El Crespo will carry top weight of 123 pounds and give six pounds to his rivals. The one-mile Bryan Station headlines Keeneland’s program and will go to post at 4:35 p.m. ET.

Trained by Rusty Arnold, El Crespo has gone winless in six starts since taking the nine-furlong Palm Beach by one length. But the son of A.P. Indy—Commodities, by Private Account, has turned in a pair of runner-up efforts, including the June 13 Jefferson Cup (gr. IIT) at Churchill Downs and the Sept. 6 Saranac (gr. IIT) last out at Saratoga. In that latest try, the dark bay colt fell 1 1/4 lengths short of Al Khali.

El Crespo will take a 2-3-1 record from 11 starts into the race. He will break from post 1 under Shaun Bridgmohan.

Sullimar Stables’ Get Stormy could be the one to catch. The son of Stormy Atlantic has gone wire-to-wire in his last two starts, including a three-quarters of a length triumph in the Lure Stakes Aug. 29 over Saratoga’s soft turf course—his second win at the meet. The Tom Bush trainee shipped in from Belmont Oct. 12. Javier Castellano will have the mount.

Also coming out of the Lure is the runner-up, Mikoshi, and the fifth-place finisher, Strike Again. Mikoshi, a son of Orientate, was sixth in Keeneland’s Transylvania (gr. IIIT) in the spring, but followed with an allowance victory and three consecutive on-the-board stakes efforts. Jose Lezcano will ride for trainer Michael Matz.

Also in the mix is Team Valor’s Kinsella, a winner of two of three starts, including a one-mile first-level allowance score Sept. 5 on the Saratoga grass after a four-month layoff. Kinsella, a Mr. Greeley colt, is trained by Todd Pletcher, who won last season’s Bryan Station with Cowboy Cal. Robby Albarado has been assigned to ride.